José Antonio Araujo

JOSÉ ANTONIO ARAUJO (Venezuela, 1968).
"Lady orange bits", 2019.
Mixed media. Assemblage in wood and resins.
Signed and dated on the base.
Measurements: 70 x 50 x 25 cm.
The figures or silhouettes of José Antonio, explore shapes and textures, depart with the observer, adopting different poses, always well dressed in various elements or materials. They are assemblages of wood, innovating with metals, of worn shapes and textures, taking advantage of their anomalies that combine enigma, illusion, realism, sophistication. Thus, Araujo's sculptural work could be placed today in the technique or method of assemblage. Araujo's sculptures, or as he calls them, his ladies or meninas, lead him to a reencounter with texture and matter, and even without disassociating himself from figuration, Araujo reinvents and renews the meninas, he falls in love with them, he dares to redesign their attire, he assembles modern clothes, hairstyles and accessories, he gives them color and textures, he modernizes their habits, tastes and customs, and he even gets the Meninas to entrust him with their pets. The Meninas have been so far, the most prolific and dedicated stage that has occupied the artist. The evolution, design, renovation and transformation of the Meninas is truly surprising and captivating. Araujo has reinvented and assembled these royal characters, from the classical to the daring and contemporary, from the simple to the sophisticated, from the figurative to the three-dimensional, from the small to the large.
José Antonio Araujo is a contemporary Venezuelan artist who lives and works in Caracas, Venezuela, and has been dedicated to sculpture for more than 20 years. Araujo began as a clay caricaturist, or as he defines himself, a "barricaturist".
Araujo is a faithful follower of the artwork of great exponents such as Henry Moore and Lynn Chadwick, he feels a special admiration for the French-Venezuelan artist Marisol Escobar and others, especially the Spanish Diego Velázquez, Eduardo Chillida and Manolo Valdés.